Improvement in coupling-heads for railroad cars



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT M. HUGHES, oE'oXEonD, PENNSYLVANIA, AssIGNOn' To HIM- sELEJ. A-BLAKE, AND H. woon.

IMPROVEMENT IN AcommNts-Hsans Foa RAILROAD CARS.

. Specificatibn formi-ng part of vLetters Patent No. 37,287, dated February 2.4, 1863,.

`To va-ZZ .whomA it may concern,.- c

Berit known that I; ROBERT M. HUGHES,

of Oxford,'(lliestcr county, Pennsylvania, have invented certain improvements in` Coupling- Heads for Railroad-Gars; and I do hereby. de-

gclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to secondly, the prevention of delay when a coupling-link is broken or so i'ar damaged as to be unsafe; and thirdly the attainment off ready means ot' coupling and uncoupling railwaycars.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will now proceed to describe its construction and operation.

On reference to the accompanying, drawings, which form a part of this specification,Y Figure l represents the coupling-heads of two adjacent cars a short distance apart from each other; Fig. 2, the same as Fig. l, showing the heads as coupled together; and Fig. 3 a scctional plan of Fig. l.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

A and A represent the coupling-heads of two adjacent cars, each head having ahollow stem, a, which is iirmly secured to the frame of the car. In the upper portion of each head is an oblong opening, b, which communicates with the horizontal open-in g c, and in this ob long opening is a catch-lever, B, the latter being hung to the pin d, which passes through the head A. This pin is so situatedl in respect to thecatch-lever, and the latter isiof such a form,- that by its own gravity it has a tendency toretain the position illustrated in the drawings, its-lower end resting on the bottom of the horizontal openin g c of the-head A, a projecting lip, e, however, aording a convenient handlev by which the catch-lever can be elevated from the position illustrated. The vlower portion of each'head is cut away to the width of the Opening`c,andas' far from the outer end of the head as the line w. (See Fig. 3.) In cutting this portion away, however, a central hook-formed projection, i, remains, and to this projectionis connected-the link D, one end of this link taking its place at; the-bottom of the curved recess m. A pin, n, is driven diagonally Dthrough the lower portion of the headin such a position as to cross the curved recess m, and, being there permanently secured, prevents the escape ofthe link, whichmay in factbe considered a movable portion of the head, the part'of the latter, which has been heretofore alluded to as being cut away, permitting the link to hang down loosely or to be elevated at pleasure. It will be seen that the entrance to th horizontal opening c is beveled both at thesides and the `top, and that the end of the hook-formed .projection i-is rounded so that the link of one of the coupling-heads can read'- ily find its way to its proper destination in the horizontal openingc ofthe adjacenthead when the two cars meet. l

It should be understood that, although I have alluded in my above description to one head only, both of the coupling-heads A and.

their appliances, are precisely .sprin g, if desired, after which the cars are se-..

cnrcly coupledtogethcr. Y

It' the link hung to the coupli g-head of one car" should be accidentally bro ren or so far damaged as to be unfit for coupling purposes, the link hung to the `head of the adjacent car isA always at hand for effecting the desired coupling, and the delay incurred in searching for a substitute for a broken link `when ordinary conpling'devices are used is obviated.

In addition to this advantage of my irnprovement there is thatof the link being permanently hung to the coupling-head, the importance of which feature will be thoroughly understood by those familiar with the management of railroads, the loss of detachable links and' pins', whichlare liable to be misleid vor stolen, being alfsource of constant expense attachments.

I do not desire j o claim, broadly, the use of the catch lever B, in connection with a coupling-head', but

.I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The combination of the .coupling head A jection 'i and pin m, or their equivalents, and

when the head is so formed in respect to the link as to allow lthe saine to be raised or lowered, the whole being constructed substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

2. In combination with the said couplinghead A and link D, the catch-lever B, hung to the head and arranged and operating substantiall y as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof 'I have signed myname to this specification in the presence of two sub scribing Witnesses.

. It. M. HUGHES.

lVitnesses:

HENRY HoWsoN, JOHN WHITE. 

